Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 751,000 shares, an increase of 12.1% from the November 30th total of 670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 349,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Herc Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HRI traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $189.33. The company had a trading volume of 236,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,729. Herc has a 1-year low of $124.70 and a 1-year high of $246.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $213.17 and its 200-day moving average is $169.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 2.02.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $4.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.13). Herc had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 26.35%. The firm had revenue of $965.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Herc will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Herc’s payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Insider Transactions at Herc

In related news, SVP Samuel Wade Sheek sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.12, for a total value of $1,065,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,600,408.32. This represents a 18.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael A. Kelly sold 3,880 shares of Herc stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.83, for a total value of $810,260.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,774 shares in the company, valued at $2,876,424.42. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Herc

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Herc by 27.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Herc by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,995 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC boosted its position in Herc by 3.8% during the third quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Herc by 4.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,019 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC raised its position in shares of Herc by 1.9% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $988,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on HRI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Herc from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Herc from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $204.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Herc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $219.75.

About Herc

Herc Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental supplier. It rents aerial, earthmoving, material handling, trucks and trailers, air compressors, compaction, and lighting equipment, as well as generators, and safety supplies and expendables; and provides ProSolutions, an industry specific solution based services, such as pumping solutions, power generation, climate control, remediation and restoration, and studio and production equipment.